Drive to the Net: Ponomarev's (next) meaningful step
It's forgivable, always, for a freshly arrived AHL player to find themselves behind the NHL pace. Everything's faster in every way, and an approach that'll work in the minors won't when it's best-of-the-best across the board.
When I've watched Vasily Ponomarev to date, I've seen far more of the former. He'll freeze up. He'll wait. He'll presume the puck's coming to him rather than pursuing it.
And then, in the second period of the Penguins' 4-1 loss to the Bruins this evening here at PPG Paints Arena, he showed this special burst on a short-handed rush:
The rocket-release shot wasn't bad, either, even if it whisked wide left. Only registered a 76.1 mph, but firing off that front foot from there, Mark Recchi-style, makes a difference.
"I know," he'd tell me afterward with a small smile. "Good shot."
Super-likable kid, I might mention.
But about that burst ...
"Yes, I understand that I have to push 110, 120 or 140 percent to get a spot for next year here, a consistent spot, not up and down the whole year," he'd say. "I’ll do my best every game. Just one game left, and then we have a whole long run in the AHL playoffs. That’s important, as well.”
Don't lose sight of this kid. He's only 23, he's still seen as one of the prizes from the Jake Guentzel trade, he and Ville Koivunen had long been seen as peers in potential before Koivunen surpassed him this season, he had 15 goals and 25 assists in 54 games for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton this winter, and he's off-the-charts intelligent.
He'll be part of this. And in all likelihood, especially since he's a natural center in a system devoid of those, it'll be sooner rather than later in a bottom-six capacity.
He gets that, too.
"When I was in Wilkes," Ponomarev would tell me pretty much out of nowhere, as he's wont to do, "I started watching my games."
Video of his previous two stints in the NHL?
"No, from when I was 13, 14 years old."
Say what?
“I just wanted to see what kind of player I was when I was a kid compared to where I am right now. I found for myself that I had really good points, but all these points were from grinding every time. This maybe was a turning point in this year that, yes, you have to play. But in my style of game, you have to grind twice as much as other guys.”
His English is countless kilometers better than my Russian, but I'll assist back: He felt that, as he moved into his teen years, he got more and more away from the grinding because he'd focused on the goals. Whereas, at 13 and 14, the two blended together.
I motioned toward Sidney Crosby's vacated stall nearby.
"Yes. Like 87. I'll work hard, I'll score, and I'll help my team win."
THE ASYLUM
Drive to the Net: Ponomarev's (next) meaningful step
It's forgivable, always, for a freshly arrived AHL player to find themselves behind the NHL pace. Everything's faster in every way, and an approach that'll work in the minors won't when it's best-of-the-best across the board.
When I've watched Vasily Ponomarev to date, I've seen far more of the former. He'll freeze up. He'll wait. He'll presume the puck's coming to him rather than pursuing it.
And then, in the second period of the Penguins' 4-1 loss to the Bruins this evening here at PPG Paints Arena, he showed this special burst on a short-handed rush:
The rocket-release shot wasn't bad, either, even if it whisked wide left. Only registered a 76.1 mph, but firing off that front foot from there, Mark Recchi-style, makes a difference.
"I know," he'd tell me afterward with a small smile. "Good shot."
Super-likable kid, I might mention.
But about that burst ...
"Yes, I understand that I have to push 110, 120 or 140 percent to get a spot for next year here, a consistent spot, not up and down the whole year," he'd say. "I’ll do my best every game. Just one game left, and then we have a whole long run in the AHL playoffs. That’s important, as well.”
Don't lose sight of this kid. He's only 23, he's still seen as one of the prizes from the Jake Guentzel trade, he and Ville Koivunen had long been seen as peers in potential before Koivunen surpassed him this season, he had 15 goals and 25 assists in 54 games for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton this winter, and he's off-the-charts intelligent.
He'll be part of this. And in all likelihood, especially since he's a natural center in a system devoid of those, it'll be sooner rather than later in a bottom-six capacity.
He gets that, too.
"When I was in Wilkes," Ponomarev would tell me pretty much out of nowhere, as he's wont to do, "I started watching my games."
Video of his previous two stints in the NHL?
"No, from when I was 13, 14 years old."
Say what?
“I just wanted to see what kind of player I was when I was a kid compared to where I am right now. I found for myself that I had really good points, but all these points were from grinding every time. This maybe was a turning point in this year that, yes, you have to play. But in my style of game, you have to grind twice as much as other guys.”
His English is countless kilometers better than my Russian, but I'll assist back: He felt that, as he moved into his teen years, he got more and more away from the grinding because he'd focused on the goals. Whereas, at 13 and 14, the two blended together.
I motioned toward Sidney Crosby's vacated stall nearby.
"Yes. Like 87. I'll work hard, I'll score, and I'll help my team win."
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